Re: [seul-edu] [Fwd: BOUNCE seul-edu@seul.org: Non-member submissionfrom [Ed Lawson <elawson@grizzy.com>]]

["Petr R. Vicherek" <petr@ied.com>]

On 26 Jun 2003, Doug Loss wrote:

> On Fri, 27 Jun 2003 08:54:13 +0800
> Leon Brooks <leon@brooks.fdns.net> wrote:
> 
> > On Fri, 27 Jun 2003 05:42, Ed Lawson wrote:
> > > Why is this stuff being discussed on a mailing list concerning open
> > > source software for education?
> > 
> > Amongst other things, it will help to reveal the similarities and 
> > differences in the requirements for classroom software vs software that 
> > would be more appealing to home schoolers.
> > 
> That would be fine, but I fail to discern how much on this thread even remotely goes to those issues.
> 
> Ed Lawson

   But there are differencies.

1. School has one classroom with many children in one grade.
   Homeschool has many grades, fewer children in one classroom.

2. School has lot of expensive teaching tools, posters, samples.
   Homesschool, cannot spend that much, but has access to internet.

3. School has books printed ten years ago, all same for all children.
   Electronic-based homeschool has more flexibility.

  What the homeschool teacher needs the most is to get the children
on a solid exercise plan, that exercises the new stuff a lot but also
tests the child on the older knowlege. Then prints to the teacher what
has been learned and what was forgotten and remembers to test the
child on the same subject next time again.

  Repeating the older stuff often enough is the most sensitive
issue of homeschooling, and perhaps any schooling. If one week
you explain and practice a subject ad nauseam until you are sure,
that they know it, and the next week you realize that everything
is forgoten, it indicates that you went ahead too much with the
new matter and neglected to practice.

  To me, this happens all too often. 

  Human memory has a sort of exponetial decay in loosing knowlege.
  Even if you know the stuff now, in ordrder to remember it you have
  to repeat it again after few hours, then next day again, then again
  in a week, next week again, then next month, and repeat everything
  in few months again.

  The computer is a perefct tool to keep such schedule of repetitions
and keep track of each person's forgetfulness and tune to it.
I hope for some system of drills and tests that would be able to do
that.

  Regards, 

    Petr